Alayadi Haya, Talakey Arwa, Alsadon Omar, Vellappally Sajith, Naik Sachin
Department of Dental Health, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2024 Jan;13(1):199-207. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_719_23. Epub 2024 Feb 8.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic globally caused depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Mental health was affected by social separation, curfews, school and business closures, economic deterioration, and government objectives. This study intends to assess the influence of the post-COVID-19 lockdown period on the psychological health of students enrolled in health colleges at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among students of healthcare colleges at King Saud University. We used a validated questionnaire of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). The questionnaire was sent to participants via google forms link through WhatsApp, e-mail, and other social media platforms. A total of 311 participants responded to the questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and a Chi-square test were performed for qualitative data analysis.
Among study participants, males were 50.4% and females were 49.6%. About 63% of the students attended a training session on COVID-19 prevention strategies. About 37% of the participants were from the College of Medicine, 27% were from the College of Dentistry, 21% from the College of Pharmacy, 5% from the College of Applied Medical Sciences, and 10% from the College of Nursing. The average anxiety score was 9.84, and the perceived stress score (PSS) was 23.95. 44.1% of students reported mild anxiety, and 1.6% suffered severe anxiety. High stress was perceived by 24.1% of the students, and 75.2% perceived a moderate stress level. No significant association was reported between gender, stress, and anxiety. Similarly, no association was found between stress and the year of study. However, a significant association was found between the year of study and anxiety ( = 0.015).
To the limitation of the study, the analysis revealed that COVID significantly influences students' psychological health. Such findings can be used to develop psychological interventions and susceptible populations and execute appropriate mental health policies and programs targeting student communities.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行在全球范围内引发了抑郁、焦虑和创伤后应激反应。心理健康受到社交隔离、宵禁、学校和企业关闭、经济恶化以及政府目标的影响。本研究旨在评估沙特阿拉伯国王沙特大学健康学院学生在COVID-19封锁期后的心理健康状况。
在国王沙特大学健康学院的学生中进行了一项横断面研究。我们使用了经过验证的广泛性焦虑障碍评估问卷（GAD-7）和感知压力量表（PSS-10）。问卷通过WhatsApp、电子邮件和其他社交媒体平台的谷歌表单链接发送给参与者。共有311名参与者回复了问卷。对定性数据分析进行了描述性分析和卡方检验。
在研究参与者中，男性占50.4%，女性占49.6%。约63%的学生参加了关于COVID-19预防策略的培训课程。约37%的参与者来自医学院，27%来自牙科学院，21%来自药学院，5%来自应用医学科学学院，10%来自护理学院。平均焦虑评分为9.84，感知压力评分（PSS）为23.95。44.1%的学生报告有轻度焦虑，1.6%患有严重焦虑。24.1%的学生感到高压力，75.2%的学生感到中等压力水平。未报告性别、压力和焦虑之间存在显著关联。同样，在压力与学习年份之间未发现关联。然而，在学习年份与焦虑之间发现了显著关联（=0.015）。
鉴于本研究的局限性，分析表明COVID-19对学生的心理健康有显著影响。这些发现可用于制定针对易感人群的心理干预措施，并实施针对学生群体的适当心理健康政策和项目。
